The amendments contained in these measures do not require a
referendum. Because the
amendments do not relate to Articles listed in Schedule 5, they
can be made by
Parliament in accordance with Article 84.

Together the Bills amend the Constitution in the way proposed by
the Constitution of Nauru (Parliamentary Amendments) Act 2009 as
proposed to be amended by the Constitution of Nauru (Parliamentary
Amendments) (Consequential Amendments) Bill 2010, with a few minor
refinements.

The Committee has resolved to introduce the amendments in a way
that allows the issues to be debated subject matter by subject
matter, with a view to pinpointing which of the proposed amendments
have the support of members and which, if any, may not.

Background

The process of constitutional reform began in 2004 when the
Scotty government took action to establish a parliamentary standing
committee on constitutional review (the 'CRC'), because the
government had identified a number of flaws in the Constitution
that needed to be addressed. In 2006 the CRC designed a six-step
process of review.

The six-step process started with a public awareness campaign
followed by a series of forty public consultation meetings around
Nauru. This was also an opportunity for the public to make written
submissions.

The third step was the establishment of an independent
Constitutional Review Commission that analysed and considered all
material gathered from the public.

A Constitutional Convention was then held to debate the
recommendations of the Commission and the draft bills were prepared
to reflect the motions passed by the Convention.

Step five involved the consideration and passage of the bills by
Parliament. The bills were introduced in November 2008, considered
in detail over a five week period by a Select Committee in early
2009, and again considered in detail by the Committee of the Whole
over three weeks in June and August 2009. Parliament voted
unanimously on 21 August 2009 to pass the two constitutional
amendment bills.

The referendum was the sixth step in Nauru's constitutional
review process.

The constitutional review is a UNDP-sponsored project, which is
locally managed and executed by the Parliament of Nauru.

Key changes to the Constitution

The proposed changes to the Constitution included changing the
method of electing the President: from election by Parliament to
direct popular election, and added new rights protections to the
existing bill of rights, such as the right to information, access
to education and children's rights. These were among the matters
that required approval by referendum before they could take
effect.

Some of the amendments passed in 2009 that did not
require approval by referendum included the insertion of a
leadership code in the Constitution, and the establishment of an
Ombudsman. A change to make the Speaker of Parliament a non-MP
could also have proceeded without approval by referendum.

A number of the constitutional amendments passed by Parliament
were designed to enhance accountability and transparency in
relation to public finance. Others aimed to make the Constitution
easier to understand by clearly stating the function of each of the
arms of government and main public institutions created under the
Constitution.

The Referendum

Not every change to the Constitution of Nauru requires approval
by referendum, only changes to any of the important Articles listed
in the fifth Schedule to the Constitution. Accordingly, the
referendum concerned only one of the two constitutional amendment
bills: the Constitution of Nauru (Referendum Amendments) Bill. The
Bill required the support of at least two thirds of the votes
validly cast at referendum in order to become law and to take
effect.

The referendum that was held on 27 February 2010 was the first
time a referendum had been conducted in Nauru. Everyone who is
entitled to vote at a general election was entitled to vote at the
referendum. Voters were asked to vote "yes" or "no" to the question
whether they approve of the Constitution of Nauru (Referendum
Amendments) Bill. The referendum was preceded by an extensive
information campaign, so that voters had the opportunity to gather
all information they needed about what is in the bill and the
opportunity to form an informed opinion about whether or not they
supported it. A mobile information centre toured Nauru throughout
January and February 2010, distributing written information and
explaining the proposed amendments to voters. Some awareness
materials were also available online. Information was broadcast on
television and radio. Public meetings were conducted throughout the
districts by the Referendum Team.

The referendum did not receive the two thirds' support required
for the proposed changes to take effect. 67% voted "no", and 33%
voted "yes".

The CRC met in the week after the referendum and resolved to
conduct a survey in order to gain an understanding of the main
reasons for the "no" vote, in order that the CRC can decide whether
it is worthwhile pursuing the proposed referendum amendments at a
later date.

Constitution of Nauru (Parliamentary
Amendments) Bill

If at least two thirds of the votes validly cast in the
referendum had been in support of the proposed constitutional
amendments, all of the amendments to the Constitution would have
come into effect on the day of the next general election.

Although the referendum did not receive the support of two
thirds of the votes cast, some of the constitutional amendments
that did not require approval by referendum would have
gone ahead had Parliament passed the Constitution of Nauru
(Parliamentary Amendments) Bill 2010 to take account of the
failure at referendum of certain interrelated amendments. However,
that Bill was finally defeated in June 2012.

More information

If you would like more detail about the constitutional review
process or the proposed constitutional amendments, refer to the
linked documents, or contact the local project manager,
Parliamentary Counsel.